Wings Helps Widows Soar, Founder Says

Chris Bentley saw a need in Cleveland: more than 1,000 women in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area are widowed every year, that were desperate for financial and legal support. So he started the Wings for Widows program which offers free financial and legal help to those who have recently lost their spouses. He hopes to spread the service to other areas across the country and is perfecting its process.

The advisor realized there was a gap for widows when he learned from a friend whose spouse had recently passed that she had been getting more information from support groups than from banks and advisors. Now widows can take a three-minute assessment on their website, where three meetings will be scheduled with a financial advisor that volunteers his or her time. Often there will also be a widow volunteer who has already been through the process for emotional support. Though originally intended for widows, widowers are not turned away.

“I had been working with widows for more than a decade and found it was difficult for them to deal with practical issues when they were dealing with grief and loss,” Bentley said. “I saw a giant opportunity to do something more for them.” The program does not write wills, estate plans, or give legal advice, but they can provide a service directory.

See Karen DeMasters, Wings Helps Widows Soar, Founder Says, Financial Advisor, February 17, 2019.

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.